Home Shopping Network

by Teen Vogue

I ended my spring break with a stop at home in Maryland for the weekend. Besides obviously hanging out with my parents, friends, and pets, and eating real food, one of the best parts about going home is the shopping. Kind of surprising, right? You would think New York City would have more than enough shopping opportunities. And it does, of course--if you have deep enough pockets. Sure, there are a lot of cheap clothing stores, too, but to get nicer things I usually head home because the same designers are so much more expensive in Manhattan. The thing is, there are so many virtually untapped clothing resources around Washington, DC. The selection at Loehmann's (a chain of designer bargain stores) in New York, for example, is never very impressive. The one outside of DC, on the other hand, is a designer clothing goldmine. I have a closet full of DVF, Nicole Miller, and tons of random, more obscure designer dresses thanks to them. I hate wearing clothes that aren't quality, so this is one way I can get nice clothes on a more modest college student budget.

Maryland also has some fantastic vintage shopping spots. One store that doesn't require too much hunting yet still yields some great cheap finds is Second Hand Rose on E. Gude Drive in Rockville, MD. It is such a hidden gem (literally hidden behind an auto body repair shop), especially for jewelry and vintage handbags. I just bought a couple brooches there that I plan on stringing on gold chains to make necklaces out of them.

I discovered another vintage shopping opportunity this weekend with my parents: Emporium Antiques in Frederick, MD, is a collection of 100+ antique dealers under one roof. Though it's mostly antique furniture, there are a bunch of jewelry cases scattered around, too. Here's a photo of one of the cases--I bought the green medallion necklace in the top left--and me browsing the collections.